


On the Existential Properties of Purple Eyeshadow

by Norickayer



Series: Cat Noire is a Useless Lesbian [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Cat Noire is a useless lesbian, Flash Fic, Gen, Genderqueer Character, Trans Female Character, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:48:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23207248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Norickayer/pseuds/Norickayer
Summary: Adrien always knew he was different from other kids. He was the son of a famous fashion designer, for one, and he was a famous model himself, for another. He was just a nerdy anime fan who spent too much time in his room and not enough time with his peers, right? Right?Maybe there was something else, as well, lingering beneath the surface. And despite Adrien's long-practiced skills at ignoring his personal emotional needs, something was about to change.
Series: Cat Noire is a Useless Lesbian [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668505
Comments: 1
Kudos: 62





	On the Existential Properties of Purple Eyeshadow

**Author's Note:**

> You may have noticed that I tagged this as "trans female character". Adrien uses he/him pronouns in this installment, but don't worry. His egg is about to crack.
> 
> Warning for some vague homophobia, transphobia, or some mix of the two in the form of ignorant comments from background characters.

It began, as many things do, with a simple overheard conversation. It barely made an impact on Adrien at first, the soft mutterings of his makeup artists washing over him like the sound of the ocean as he tried (and failed) to relax before a Sunday-morning shoot.Their words echoed in his mind the rest of the day, simple key phrases repeating in his mind for no discernible reason.Stand out of the way, wait for Lighting to be ready, pose-

  
“Did you hear the news about that American cosmetics brand?”

  
-stop, let makeup do a touch-up to correct for the color of the lighting-

  
“-such a marketing ploy-“

  
“-unprofessional to-“

  
-pose again, hold for ten minutes. Allow himself to be poked and prodded by dressers, the photographer, and a couple interns for good measure-  
“-male Covergirl!”

  
It wasn’t the first time Adrien had heard of such a thing- even though he wasn’t personally interested in the modeling industry, he was a model. So yeah, he knew that men sometimes wore skirts or dresses on runways, and he braved the makeup tables with the knowledge that this is just what modeling was like, for whatever reason. He just took it for granted.

  
This news was different. To shock the professionals this way, it had to be. This wasn’t just the mysterious whims of High Fashion. This was an American company, an actual product line, and a boy roughly Adrien’s own age modeling makeup.

  
Something about that fascinated him. He stared up at his ceiling that night, rolling the idea over and over, hoping to solve the puzzle.

  
“Go to sleep,” Plagg demanded. “All your tossing and turning is giving me indigestion.”

  
“I can’t,” Adrien answered. 

  
“Ladybug will still be around in the morning, Hawkmoth will still be evil, and you’ll still owe me cheese. There, I solved your crisis. Now go to sleep,” the grumpy kwami whined.

  
Adrien didn’t try to explain that, for once, this wouldn’t cut it.

  
By lunch hour the next day, Adrien had researched as much as he could on the subject online. He’d visited the model’s Instagram page, read the few French-language articles about the decision, and Google-translated a few more. He found out that beyond James Charles, there as Andrej Pejic, Casey Legler, Rain Dove, Elliott Sailors, and Erika Linder.

  
Adiren was dazzled, confused, and overwhelmed. He was also, for the first time since he was seven and his mother was still around, developing an actual interest in modeling.

\- - -

“What about purple?” Adrien asked shyly as he sat at the makeup counter several days later. The artist, Guillaume, paused.  
Probably shocked I said anything at all, the cynical part of Adrien thought.

  
“No,” the older man decided after a moment’s thought. “Too deep. This look calls for subtlety, youth, innocence.”

  
Adrien quelled the urge to argue. Too much Cat Noir. Adrien Agreste is polite and reserved.

  
The artist must have seen something of the conflict in Adrien’s face, because he continued, a little apologetic, “Too much makeup on a young boy’s face gives people the wrong idea. Makes them think he’s a little-” The artist paused, and made a dismissive gesture. “You know. That way.”

  
Adrien nodded and smiled at the man in understanding. Behind the mask, his emotions churned. You don’t know how I am at all. I could be anything at all and none of you would notice.

  
“Tone it down, kid,” Plagg warned between shoots, “I know I said you’re immune to akumas, but there’s no need to taunt fate!”

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in 2016, I know James Charles is a creep, don't @ me please.


End file.
